Hanger bar for garment cartons



Nov. 25, 1969 H. s. COLLIN HANGER BAR FOR GARMENT CARTONS Filed Dec. 5, 1967 United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 6 Claims A bar for supporting clothes hangers in an upright gar- I supporting the hangers has U-shaped end portions which engage over the side walls of a carton. A lock bar, of inverted channel shape, overlies the hooks of the hangers and has down turned ends terminating in prongs which ment shipping carton. A channel shaped metal" bar for snap into slots in the end portions of the supporting bar.

This invention relates to hanger bars for supporting clothes hangers, and more particularly to a bar for use with commercial garment shipping cartons of the upright type.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION An upright carton of the type to which this invention pertains is made of a size and height to hold a number of garments, such as suits, coats, or dresses, on clothes hangers, and has a bar at the top to receive the hangers. The purpose of using such cartons is to prevent the garments from becoming wrinkled, in transit between the factory or warehouse and the store, and to eliminate the need for pressing when the garments are received at the store. In cartons previously used, the hangers are likely to slide along the bar, or fall 011, if the carton is tilted, so that some or all of the contents may become wrinkled. The principal object of this invention is to provide a bar which securely locks the hangers, so that they cannot slide or fall off.

SUMMARY The bar here disclosed is made of sheet metal and consists of a body and a cover. The body is channel shaped and has end portions with upwardly sloping inner walls connected to downwardly extending outer walls. The end portions engage in notches in the end walls of the carton. The cover is an inverted channel with downwardly extending side walls, and has down turned tabs at the ends, terminating in prongs which engage in slots in the inner amount of spring so that the prongs can be disengaged walls of the body end portion. The tabs have a certain by pressing against the tabs with a screw driver. When the cover is in place, its side walls engage and lock the hooks of hangers disposed on the bar body, and the prongs lock the cover to the body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings illustrating the invention:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the top portion of a garment carton on which is installed a hanger bar constructed according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged cross-section, partly broken away, taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a cross-section taken along line 33 of FIGURE 2, showing the locking bar in raised, free position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The carton, generally indicated by the numeral 10, on which the bar is used, is rectangular and has end walls 11 and 12, side walls 13 and 14, and top closure flaps 15 and ICC 16. The carton is ordinarily made of corrugated cardboard and may be of any suitable construction. End walls 11 and 12 have notches 17 and 18 for receiving the hanger bar, generally indicated by the numeral 20.

The body section 21 of the bar assembly is generally channel-shaped, and has upstanding side walls 21m and 2112. A stiffening rib 22 is formed along the bottom wall 21c of the bar. The bar has end portions, generally indicated by the numeral 23 and 24, consisting of inner walls 23a, 24a, sloping upward from the bottom wall of the bar, connecting with down-turned outer walls 23b, 24b. Prongs 25 and 26 are struck out of outer walls 23b and 24b and face inward and upward. Inner walls 23a, 24a have slots 27 and 28.

The body section 21 is preferably formed in one piece from sheet metal, and so proportioned that it can be formed from a strip of uniform width. End portions 23 and 24 are thus wider than the channel-shaped main portion in the finished bar. The wide end portions distribute the weight of the garments hung on the bar over a corresponding wide area of the carton walls. When the body section is placed on the carton, end portions 23 and 24 pass through notches 17 and 18 and engage over the end wall 11 and 12 of the carton. The prongs 25 and 26 bite into the end Walls and prevent displacement of the bar.

The cover section, generally indicated by the numeral 30, is also formed in one piece from sheet metal and is generally channel-shaped with downwardly extending side walls 30a and 30b and a top wall 30c. Stiifening flutes 31 and 32 are formed in the top wall. Generally triangular end flaps 33 and 34 are bent down from top wall 300 and terminate in tab portions 33a and 34a which are of appropriate width to fit into slots 27 and 28.

To use the bar assembly, body section 21 is set in place on a carton, and end portions 23 and 24 are pushed down into notches 17 and 18. The garment hangers 35, which may be of any of the usual wood, wire, or plastic types having hook portions 35a, are hung on body section 21. The garments may be placed on the hangers before or after the hangers are hung on the bar.

The hangers are spaced as desired. Plain garments of sturdy materials, for example, may be packed tightly. In the case of fragile garments or garments with bows or ornaments, it may be desirable to space the hangers so that the garments do not touch each other.

When all the hangers and garments have been placed in the carton and arranged as desired, the cover section 30 is put on. This may be done readily by inserting the tab portion of one of the cover end flaps into one of the slots 27 or 28. The opposite end of the cover section is then pressed down against the adjacent inner wall 23a or 24a. Walls 30a and 30b of the cover section stop short of end flaps 33 and 34 so that the latter may yield inwardly to allow the last tab portion to engage in its slot. The slope of inner walls 23a and 24a facilitates insertion of the last tab.

When cover section 30 is in place, as shown in FIG- URE 2, the clearance between walls 30a, 30b and walls 21a, 21b of the body section is such that the hook portions 35a of the hangers are gripped tightly. The hangers then cannot slide along the bar or rock sidewise.

To remove the cover section, one of the end flaps 33 or 3.4 is pressed back, with a screw driver or similar tool, to free its tab portion from the slot, and that end of the cover section is lifted. The other end can then be readily freed.

The bar here disclosed can be used with either a top opening or a side opening carton. When used on the latter, the notches 17 and 18 are made deeper, so that the bar is spaced from the top of the carton, to allow the cover section to be put on and taken ofl. The bar securely locks the hangers so that they cannot fall on, rock, or slide if the carton is tilted. The garments are thus kept spaced and in the proper position.

What is claimed is:

1. A hanger bar, for a garment carton having end walls, comprising a body section having a central hanger supporting portion and end portions adapted to engage said end walls to support the bar thereon, said end portions having inner walls provided with openings, and a cover section overlying said body section and adapted to grip the hooks of clothes hangers disposed on said central portion, said cover section having resilient bendable end flaps engaging said openings.

2. A hanger bar as described in claim 1, said central portion being channel-shaped with side walls and a bottom wall, and said inner walls sloping upward from said bottom wall.

3. A hanger bar as described in claim 1, said central portion being channel-shaped with side walls and a bottom wall, the combined width of said side walls and bottom wall being equal to the width of said end portions.

4. A hanger bar as described in claim 1, said central portion being channel-shaped with abottom wall, and having a rib disposed along said bottom wall.

5. A hanger bar as described in claim 1, said cover section being channel-shaped with downwardly extending side walls and a top wall and having flutes along said top wall.

6. hanger bar as described in claim 1, said end flaps being generally triangular end terminating in tab portions extending into said openings.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,484,453 10/1949 Halverson 21l124 X 3,057,461 lO/1962 Richer 211124 X 3,162,314 12/1964 Belsinger 211-124 3,298,503 l/l967 Field 211l24 X 3,403,787 10/1968 Browning 21 1-124 20 NILE C. BYERS, 13., Primary Examiner 

